Packing tube

ABSTRACT

In a packing device using heat-plastic materials such as polyethylene and others, a packing tube prepared by being neatly folded and inserted over the end of a guide cylinder; the packing tube of polyethylene or the like is drawn out successively by as much as needed by supporting the outside of the materials.

United States Patent Sanka 1 Aug. 8, 1972 [$41 PACKING TUBE [$6] Mel-ence- Cited [72] Inventor: Kefii Snlh, No. 7, Chayamocho, mm-ED TENTS Wakayama City. Japan STATES PA 3,380,220 4/1968 Jennings et al. ..53l24 [22] 2,752,172 6/1956 Ziebold ..l38ll2l 211 App]. No.: 813,581

Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton 301 Foreign Application Priority nu yg- Antonclli and Hill April 4, 1968 Japan ..43]22341 April l3, I968 ..43249l6 [5''] ma April 16, 1968 Japan ..43/2S4S9 In a packing device using heat-plastic materials such April 8, 1969 Japan Ail/28057 as polyethylene and others, a packing tube prepared April 9, 1968 Japan ..43l23849 by being neatly folded and inserted over the end of a guide cylinder; the packing tube of polyethylene or 229,53, the like is drawn out sumively as much as ..B65d d d b th t 'd fm m ab [58] FieldntSeareh .229/37, 14 a, 14 15,625, 69, ysuppu'm's m 229/53; 53/24; 138/119, 121 7 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PITENTEDMB 3 I972 SHEU 1 U? 3 AITORNE YS PATENIEDAUB m: 3.682.371

SHEEI 2 BF 3 H68 8 PRIOR ART 8 FIG. ll

INVENTOR KEIJI SAIKA ATTORNEYS PAIENTEM B 8 SHEET 3 BF 3 PACKING TUBE The present invention relates to a packing tube and a packing device using the same packing tube.

With respect to the filling and packing method of the present invention using a tube such as made from polyethylene and other materials, the sealing system of the present invention enables an operation which is most simple as compared to the other known systems. More particularly, in the sealing system of the present invention, the filling materials are fed in from the rear end of the tube. The packing device according to the present invention can therefore cut the tube and seal both the upper and lower parts in one operation as compared to the usual device in which the materials are fed in from the front end of the tube and therefore require several operating steps. Furthermore, in the prior art devices, he method of making a bag-shape from the tube has to be added while various attachments for catching the bag and holding up the bag as well as other complicated equipment for preventing creases and tube-slipping at the seal surface, etc., are necessary. In contrast thereto, the device of the present invention does not require any such attachments or equipment. Consequently, there is such a wide difference between the mechanical structures of the packing devices of the prior art and the present invention that the costs also differ by a factor of several times l and therewith the packing device with a hauling-in system is much cheaper than the prior art devices.

However, there is a decisive, inherent deficiency in the device using a hauling-in system, namely, such packing device using the hauling-in system cannot carry out continuous packing within the limit of the tube hauled-in or carried on the guide cylinder (the length of the guide cylinder being as little as 20 m) and it has therefore been necessary heretofore to haul-in and supply the tube by stopping the operation frequently whereas the customary packing devices of the prior art, not utilizing a hauling-in system, can carry out a continuous packing operation of one tube.

Consequently, the prior art devices utilizing the hauling-in system did not possess the essential requirements for operating continuous filled packing in quantities. For that reason, the usual packing method was utilized heretofore for operating continuous filled packing in quantities, which inevitably resulted in a complicated mechanical structure in an equipment of large size, in high price, etc.

The present invention aims at eliminating this shortcoming and, in fact, enables the continuous packing of materials in quantities by utilizing the more simple and less expensive packing equipment relying on the hauling-in system. This constitutes a first object of a packing tube in accordance with the present invention while a second object of the present invention resides in that the tube for a filled packing used by the customary hauling-in device, is temporarily rolled after the tube has been formed, or is temporarily folded by putting in the right and left sides like cloth and is then carried, and it has been packed by cutting and folding only some parts which can be done by hand in the packing device. For instance, the length of a packing tube to be hauled or carried on the guide cylinder by hand, is limited to 20 times the length of the guide cylinder in case the thickness of the tube is 0.04 mm.

Consequently, the unit of length of rolling one package of packing tube is made about 500 meters, and if the guide cylinder is one meter, the tube has to be hauled, one by one, on the guide cylinder, 25 times; furthermore, between the packing tube being carried and the preparation of the packing device, difficult tasks are required as indicated by the above example, and the high efficiency of automatic packaging of heavy materials is not desirable nor feasible at all.

Furthermore, in the usual hauling-in system, the difference in length between the periphery and the outer diameter is about 20 percent, and if such difference went therebeyond, there were many wrinkles, and the materials were caused to fall down in greater quantity than desirable, and thus was impossible to pull the packing tube out smoothly in the course of the package-making operation.

In contrast thereto, the present invention proposes to fold the part neatly to be free of wrinkles, to carry the packing tube quickly to the packing device, and to prepare quickly the packing device for its operation. A filling and packing device for a small bag made from polyethylene and other materials has come to be used more and more in recent times and one for heavy contents of 10 kilograms, 15 kilograms, and so on, is now more desirable. However, if the existing device is applied with these heavy contents, it cannot meet such desirability in its present form because breakage accidents may occur soon after the sealing operation with such prior art packing device. Now, in the automatic filling and packing device, the filling material is filled into the bag made of tube-type polyethylene soon after sealing the lower end of the bag, and thereupon its upper part is sealed and the package is completed by cutting off the tube. Such prior art device is sufficient so far because the filling material was relatively light. However, if the filling material becomes heavier, the thickness of the polyethylene tube must also be increased and therefore a tube with a thicknes of about 0.l mm. has to be used. As a result thereof, it takes a long time to heat the sealed part until it sticks tightly while the filling material with its heavy weight may fall down suddenly on the sealed part while it is still soft without completion of the heat treatment so that the bottom of the sealed bag is readily broken by the load.

Even if such prior art device is equipped with an aircooling unit, the heat radiation from the inside of the sealed bag is delayed because the material is too thick, and it must be held in place after the sealing operation because its adhesion is sped up only slightly. This is the reason why the prior art filling and packing device is very inefficient and has value as an automatic packing device.

Accordingly, it is a third object of the present invention to provide a very simple and efficient filling and packing device aiming at avoiding the bottom breakage by decreasing slightly the load on the sealed surface at the time of the filling operation even though the heat treatment of the sealed surface is still not completed.

A fourth purpose of the present invention resides in that the pleat part causing wrinkles is neatly folded in advance, which is inserted over a guide cylinder, and the packing device is made in such a manner that the materials, such as polyethylene and others, may be drawn out in a simple and smooth manner and by amounts as long as needed for the package whereas in the prior art packing devices, well known heretofore, which haul the packing tube to be packed on a guide cylinder, the length of the periphery is at most twice the periphery of the guide cylinder, and if a packing tube with more length than the above is used, wrinkles which cannot be disposed of, will occur, and the packing tube will hang in such a manner that the packing tube cannot be drawn out in lengths as great as needed for the package. For that reason, the occurrence of wrinkles is prevented by the difference between the length of the guide cylinder periphery and that of the packing tube periphery, and at the same time, especially the needed length of the packing tube is drawn out by using friction force between the guide cylinder and the packing tube in the packing device to which the guide cylinder is attached vertically.

However, by the use of such a device, a highly efficient packing operation is impossible, that is, because the length of the packing tube hauled-in or carried on the guide cylinder is twenty times that of the guide cylinder (in case of a thickness of 0.04 mm).

A fifth object of the present invention deals with the following aspect. In the packing device which uses polyethylene and other materials, wrinkles and overlaps often occur on the sealing surface of the filling bag. The larger the bag, the greater the occurrence of wnnkles and overlaps.

Consequently, the seal becomes imperfect and the filling bag often breaks and other accidents occur. Furthermore, the wrinkles and overlaps on the sealing part render the external appearance of the products worse and there are additionally fears of deterioration of the merchandise value of the products. The present invention therefore aims at providing a simple tension device on the sealing part of the filling bag in order to prevent wrinkles and overlap.

These and further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. I is a bottom plan view on a perfectly folded packing tube in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the packing tube of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the condition of the tube when an opening is made at the end thereof;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the condition of the tube at the time of transfer thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through a packing tube in accordance with the present invention in its condition inserted over a guide cylinder;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view on the packing tube of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the opening part of the packing tube of FIGS. 5 and 6, perfectly folded;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view, similar to FIG. 5, through a prior art packing tube inserted over a guide cylinder;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view on the packing tube of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the packing tube of FIGS. 5 and 6 in its bundled condition;

FIG. 11 is a somewhat schematic elevational view showing the packing condition of a packing tube placed on a packing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, of a packing device in accordance with the present invention illustrated in its operating condition when filled up;

FIG. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through a part of the packing device of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a bottom plan view on the parts illustrated in FIG. 13:

FIG. 15 is a somewhat schematic front elevational view illustrating a tensioning device of the tube made from polyethylene and other materials in the packing device according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a packing tube, perfectly folded, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the opening part of the packing tube of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view illustrating the packing tube of FIGS. 17 and 18 on a packing device of the present invention in the packing condition thereof; and

FIG. 20 is a partial cross-sectional view taken at right angle to FIG. 19 and illustrating the support of the outside of the packing tube.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts, and more particularly to FIG. 1 and 2, by folding the tube alternately from two directions a, a and b, b which cross at right angle with respect to the tube, in the direction toward the inside and in one direction each at every stage, the pleats 2a and 2a folded in a trapezoid and the other pleats 2b, 2b also folded in a trapezoid are formed to make the openings 3a and 3b mutually cross at right angle at every stage; the inside opening 1 of the tube is thereby made square at the crossing parts of the openings 3a and 3b, and thus the outer shape of the tube becomes octagonal including the outer sides 40 and 4a of the folded-in pleats 2a and 2a and the outer sides 4b and 4b'of the fold-in pleats 2a and 2 a'and the outer sides 4b and 4' of the folded-in pleats 2b and 2b. After the tube is thus neatly folded as described above in a conventional manner and by conventional means, it is compressed and banded together by using a rope 5 or the like in order to make easier the filling operation in the packing device.

At the time of carrying the tube, a reinforcement pad 6 may be inserted into the inside of opening 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the packing tube 9 is placed over the guide cylinder 8 in proportion to the length of the periphery of the guide cylinder 8, i.e., in proportion to the axial length thereof. Because the packing tube 9 which has a large difference of 30 times greater length of its outer periphery than that of the periphery of the guide cylinder 8, is mounted over the guide cylinder 8, the inside of the packing tube 9 is neatly folded beforehand in square shape and its outside in octagonal shape, it can then be made to be drawn out regularly in proper order at the time of the packing operation as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Furthermore, the neatly folded packing tube 9 is compressed and tied tightly with a thread 13 or the like passed through the hole 10 provided on the inside of the packing tube 9 as shown in FIG. 10 and solid material 11 is inserted into the same so as to make more convenient to carrying thereof.

As shown in FIG. 11, the solid material 11 is taken out when the tube 9 is mounted on the packing device 12 and is inserted over or mounted on the guide cylinder 8 of the same packing device; the packing operation can then be commenced immediately by merely untying the thread or rope with which the packing tube had been tied together.

The operating sequence of the filling and packing device as well as the packing method of the present invention will be explained more fully hereinafter by reference to FIGS. 12 to 20.

The hauled-in tube 14 (FIG. 12) is fitted over the guide cylinder 16 having a hopper at its upper part. A heater 17 (FIG. 14) for the lower end seal, which reciprocates, is provided in such a manner as to leave a certain space below the lower end of the guide cylinder 16. Additionally, a heater 18 for the upper end seal and a melt-cutting blade 19 are provide which with the heater 17 and an opening and closing shutter 20 for supporting materials form an assembly that moves in the same direction of reciprocating movements. The end of the shutter 20 is supported on the stand or support 21 by way of weak springs 22 in such a manner as to project slightly beyond the ends of the heaters 17 and 18 and of the melt-cutting blade 19, which supports the moving shaft 23 so as to slide freely. In this manner, the danger of contact between a sealed bag, when lowered, with the heated surface of the sealing and cutting parts is far-reachingly precluded. In the lower part the packing device includes a stand or support 24, of which the upper and lower positions are determined by the operation of the photoelectric relay 25, and a pushing-out or ejector plate 26 which reciprocates to the right and left at regular times. The actual mounting of these parts is conventional and thereofer only illustrated schematically. Additionally, since the actuation and timing of the operation of the plate 26 as well as of the reciprocating movement of parts 17, 18, 19 and 20, is conventional and well known to a person skilled in the art, a detailed showing thereof is dispensed with herein.

Furthermore, the packing device includes a tubepressing plate 27 compressing the tube, a stationary part 28 forming a counterabutment for the opening and closing shutter 20, a silicon rubber part 29 in the fixed abutment 28 and a ventilation opening 32 suitably connected to a conventional fan. Reference numeral 30 designates a material receiving bag supported by the support surfaces on shutter 20 and abutment 28 while reference numeral 31 designates a filled bag immediately prior to the cutting and sealing operation.

In the present invention, when the opening and closing shutter 20 is closed by reciprocating movement, the filling material is fed in through the hopper 15 and falls down through the guide cylinder 16 and is once more received in the bag 30 while the heater 17 for the lower seal, which moves in the same direction as shutter 20, the heater 18 for the upper seal and the melt-cutting blade 19, etc. compress the polyethylene tube against the silicon rubber abutment 29 and carry out a sealing operation at the upper end of the filled bag 31 which has already fallen down onto stand 24 during the previous shutter-opening operation and at the lower end of the reserve bag 30, and thereupon the melt-cutting is done between the upper and lower bags 30 and 31.

Referring to FIG. 15 and 16, reference numeral 33 designates a polyethylene tube according to the present invention hauled or carried on the guide cylinder 34. The hanging down, lower end of the polyethylene tube 33 is sealed into the shape of a bag. On the inside of the hanging-down tube, a spring wire 35 is mounted in any suitable manner to pivot in contact with the lower part of the guide cylinder 34; the two ends of the spring wire 35 hang down in shoulder shape and are extended on the inside of the hanging-down tube so as to elongate the tube in a straight line. The heater 36' for the sealing operation is mounted in a position adjacent to the lower end of the spring wire 35. Furthermore, reference numeral 37 designates the melt-cutting blade which moves simultaneously with the sealing operation while reference numeral 38 designates the support or abutment means of the silicon rubber, reference numeral 39 a hopper and reference numeral 40 the filling material. Reference numeral 36 designates a part of the applied seal to form the lower side of the bag, reference numeral 36 the part of the applied seal to form the upper side of the bag and reference numeral 37 a melt-cutting portion of the upper and lower bags.

FIGS. 17 and 18 show a modified embodiment in which the polyethylene tube 42 for packing is again neatly folded so that the inside of the guide cylinder 41, on which the tube is hauled, may have a square shape, and the outside an octagonal shape; the guide cylinder 41 is enlarged in a taper shape at its lower end so that the tube 42 is supported by the enlarged part 43 of the guide cylinder 41. On the other hand, the neatly folded polyethylene tube for packing possesses, for instance, more than 50 per cent of the periphery length as compared with that of the guide cylinder 41 and therefore the crease of the tube folded as much as needed for packing becomes loose and draws out by the weight of the packed material, fed in through the enlarged part 43 of the guide cylinder 41.

Reference numeral 44 designates an elongating unit for the packing tube 42, while reference numeral 45 designates the stationary side of the opening and closing shutter for the tube 42 during the filling operation and reference numeral 46 designate the reciprocating shutter side thereof. The heater assembly 47 for the seal includes a cutting blade while reference numeral 48 designates the compression abutment for the part 47 and reference numeral 49 the plate pushing out the completed bag, which moves in the direction of arrows.

By folding the tube alternately toward the inside of the tube in a respective direction at each and every stage, which is folded in the two directions crossing at about right angle with respect to the tube, folded-in pleats of a trapezoidal shape and folded in pleats of trapezoidal shape are formed so as to produce the openings cross respectively at every stage at about right angle with respect to the tube. The tube is neatly folded to make the external form in an octagonal shape including the four outsides of the folded-in pleats. Consequently, the compression rate of the tube is increased by a factor several times ten greater than that of the conventional hauling-in device. in the conventional device, a tube diameter which is only a little larger than the guide cylinder, is used and if the tube diameter becomes too large, the hauled-in condition is very irregular and hanging down becomes excessive so that the prior art device cannot be used. Such idea has dominated the packing industry until the present invention. But the packing tube of the present invention breaks down such conventional ideas. By making a big difference between the tube diameter and the guide cylinder diameter, the surplus part is neatly folded along the pleats and the tube can be compressed extraordinarily. in one concrete explanation of the foregoing, for example, the tube of a length of 500 meters can be compressed to only 50 centimeters in case the tube is 0.06 mm. thick and 400 mm. wide and the guide cylinder diameter is 300 mm. Consequently, a tube with a length of more than 1,000 times the length of the guide cylinder can be hauled-in and if the tube of the present invention is once installed in the device, the filling and packing operation can be carried out continuously.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the tube has an inside hole or opening which is square, and if the guide cylinder is made square, there are no dangers that the hauling-in tube may be distorted and the position of the mark in front of the bag may shift. Consequently, the device of the present invention entails a characteristic feature that the position of the mark printed on the side of the bag can always be located.

A bag filled and packed by using the tube of the present invention also offers the characteristic feature of greater strength compared to conventional devices. This is so because a tube of polyethylene and other materials is made in the vertical direction during the manufacturing process and the tube is therefore strong in the vertical direction but is weak in the horizontal direction. This is not only true for polyethylene as packing material but also with all other materials. For example, the same is true also for an iron plate. The tube of polyethylene and other materials is usually flattened, rolled and reserved, and therefore its fold is in a length as much as 1,000 meters on a guide cylinder with its periphery of 320 mm. long in case the tube is 0.06 mm. thick and the tube periphery is 800 mm. long, the device of the present invention is, of course, more efficient as compared with the conventional devices which utilized a packing tube of about 20 times greater length than that of the guide cylinder. Furthermore, in the present invention, the packing tube bundled tightly together by means of threads, cords, ropes, bands, or the like, can be inserted over the guide cylinder and the packing operation can be at once commenced only by untying threads while the carrying method is simple without package crumbling. Thus, the rationalization of the carrying method of the packing tube as well as the high and efficient continuous automatic packing operation with a packing device based on the haulingin system can be realized for the first time by the present invention. In the filling and packing device of the present invention, all the shock and load of the falling down materials to be filled are received by the opening shutter 20 and by the fixed part 28 of the shutter which do not afiect the tube part in its condition weakened-by-heat. During the next step of the method, each reciprocating part mentioned above is gradually opened while the sealing surface at the lower end is cooled by the air blown out to the funnel 32 and, at the same time, the bag 30 comes down gradually. Some weight pressure is applied little by little to the sealed part at the lower end of the reserve or next bag but such pressure is relatively weak because there is no shock pressure, and though this sealed part is cooled by the air forced through the funnel 32, its condition weakened by heat is still preserved and can bear such pressure. On the other hand, the stopped kick-out plate 26 starts to reciprocate to kick down the already completely sealed, filled bag 31 and then the plate 26 returns immediately to the original position. The reserve bag 30 which is continuously lowered by the opening operation of the aforementioned reciprocating unit, gradually falls down and arrives safely on the support 24 without contacting the heated surfaces of parts 17, 18 and 19 because the end of the shutter 20 prothe vertical direction which doubles the weakness of jects slightly beyond the heater l7 and 18 and the surthe tube in the horizontal direction, and the bag therefore breaks generally along this fold. According to the present invention, however, the fold is not in the vertical direction but is at a slant or in the horizontal direction and therefore the bag does not break at all as a result of the fold.

A packing tube of the present invention has the following features:

In the packing device utilizing a hauling-in system, the tube for filling and packing made from a material such as polyethylene or any other suitable synthetic resinous or other appropriate material which can be sealed by heat and pressure, is neatly folded and compressed by providing a penetration hole in order to enable the insertion of the guide cylinder into the packing tube having a 30 per cent longer periphery than that of the guide cylinder diameter of the packing device.

A concrete example of comparing the present invention with conventional hauling-in devices is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Because the device of the present invention can haulin or supply the tube (with its thickness 0.06 mm.) with face of the melt-cutting blade 19 while the receiving stand 24 is placed in its proper lower positions underneath the bag 31 by the operation of a photo relay 25 which controls the length of the filling bag falling down.

Thereupon the reciprocating unit, which has completed the opening operation, is shifted to the closing operation and at last the shutter 20 is closed. During and before that operation, all the materials which have been received in the guide cylinder have fallen down into the filling bag on the receiving stand 24, and thereafter the operation is returned to the first step and the continuous automatic filling and packing is continued by repeating these steps.

The opening and closing operation of the heater at the same time and on the same structure as also controls the opening and closing of the shutter forms an important advantage of the packing device for filling and packing filling materials such as polyethylene and other heat-plastic materials. The opening and closing shutter at the upper part of the heater causes the polyethylene to be enclosed and the filling materials to fall down from the upper part in the tube soon before or at the same time when the heater for the seal causes the adhesion by heat-compression. This has the following effects.

1. The filling materials produce no falling shock and, because the tube together with the filling materials are made to fall down slowly, which does not produce too much weight-pressure on the sealed part, there is no danger of an accident such a bottom breakage as occurrs in the conventional devices even in the case of big weight packing.

2. By using the packing materials of greater thickness, it is not necessary to leave the seal part in place until it becomes cold and solid. Thus, a highly efficient packing operation is possible.

3. in a conventional prior art device, there is a dif ference between the time of the sealing operation and the time of the filling operation whence it is necessary to allocate time to each operation. In the present invention, however, the filling operation can be carried out at the same time as the sealing operation, and thus it produces the high efficiency by carrying out the two operations at the same time without wast of time.

4. By reason of the fact that the present invention can carry out the filling and packing operation of large weight materials by means of the continuous automatic filling and packing device using tubeshapes packing materials, not generally used heretofore, it offers the advantage of substantial savings in personnel costs.

Furthermore, to carry out the present invention, the opening and closing shutter and the heaters 17 and 18 for sealing the upper and lower ends may be operated in separate steps instead of during the same operating step. As to the timing, it is desirable to close the opening and closing shutter 20 shortly before the heaters 17 and 18 begin to treat the heat-pressed adhesion of the tube; however, both steps may be operated at the same time as described hereinabove.

As to the closing of the opening and closing shutter 20, there is no need for closing the same perfectly, but it may be closed as much as to leave it in a little time because it is good to have a function of decrasing the falling shock of the filling materials.

The elongation unit of the present invention is as follows:

At first, when the filling materials are fed automatically or by hand through the hopper 39, they are lowered through the guide cylinder 34 and fall into the hanging down tube. The elastic linear or straight material which extends the tube in a straight line from the inside, draws-in by itself when the filling materials pass through and, after they have passed through, it extends the tube in a straight line as before, and then by operation (with a movement in the direction of the arrow) of the sealing heater and melt-cutting blade at the part adjacent to the lower end of the elastic linear material, the sufficiently extended tube is sealed and melt-cut.

ln other words, in the packing device of the present invention utilizing a heat-plastic material such as polyethylene and other materials, the elastic linear material which causes the tube to extend, is fitted on both inner ends of the tube made of the heat-plastic material and the sealing heater is mounted in a position adjacent to the lower end of the elastic linear material.

Though the elongation device of the present invention is simple, the filling bag obtained by the operation has no creases and doubled-up parts on its surface as well as a strong and beautiful appearance with high value as a commerical product. In the operation of the device of the present invention, it is preferable to make the tube slide more smoothly by coating or applying to the part of the elastic linear material 35 contacting the tube, materials with low coefficient of friction such as fluoric resins or any other suitable material of any known type. It may have a good effect either by using the hauled-in seamless tube or the folded tube of polyethylene and other materials, or by using the plate type of polyethylene, of which both ends are joined together.

The packing tube support unit of the present invention is as follows:

In the packing device using packing materials such as polyethylene and others which can be closed by heat and pressure, the same packing tube of polyethylene to be prepared, is neatly folded and inserted over the guide cylinder of which the ends have been enlarged, or the packing tube of polyethylene is made so as to be drawn out in length as needed by supporting its outside.

in the continuously packing operation, the material to be hauled-in and mounted over the guide cylinder, could be only 20 times longer than the length of the guide cylinder in the prior art devices. However, by folding neatly the pleat to be creased after insertion of the guide cylinder, the packing polyethylene tube of the present invention can be hauled-in or supplied in lengths 1,000 times greater than the length of the guide cylinder (in the case of a thickness of 0.04 mm), and thus it is not necessary to replace frequently the guide cylinder, whence the efficiency of the continuous packing operation in accordance with the present invention is greatly enhanced.

The support unit of the polyethylene packing tube of the present invention is particularly effective when it is used as a packing material of polyethylene with considerable thickness for packing heavy weight goods, and the high-speed automatic and continuous packing device of the heavy weight goods by the hauling-in system, which was impossible heretofore in the prior art devices, has been made practical for the first time by the present invention.

Furthermore, in the present invention the difference between the periphery length of the packing polyethylene tube and that of the guide cylinder on which the tube is hauled-in or carried, can be made much greater than the conventional one, hence, the present invention enhances the commercial value of the packing bag because the tube is neatly folded, and no creases occur, and the neatly folded packing materials such as polyethylene tubes can also be hauled-in by supporting their outside as shown in F i6. 20.

I claim:

1. Apparatus comprising a packaging tube for packaging of articles adapted to be used with a haulingin system, the tube having folds in two directions crossing each other and at substantially a right angle with respect to the tube in such a manner that they alternately cross on the inside in two directions at every stage to form folded-in pleats, and the folded-in pleats providing substantially rectangularly shaped openings on the inside of the tube mutually crossing at a substantially right angle at every stage the tube being formed of a material having sufficient flexibility to permit the folded-in pleats to contact one other and to be unfolded for the receipt and packaging of articles.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the tube is folded-in in such a manner that the pleats have a substantially trapezoidal shape.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the external form of the tube is substantially octagonal in shape formed by four outer sides of the folded-in pleats.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the external form of the tube is substantially octagonal in shape formed by four outer sides of the folded-in pleats.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the packaging tube is used in the hauling-in system with a packaging device having a guide cylinder, the packaging tube being made from a material adapted to surround an article and to be closed upon itself by heat and pressure for packaging the article, the tube being neatly folded and compressed to provide an opening for the insertion of the guide cylinder of the packaging device in such a manner that the packaging tube has a periphery longer by more than 30 per cent than that of the guide cylinder.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the packing tube is made from synthetic resinous material adapted to be closed by heat and pressure.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the packaging tube is made from polyethylene. 

1. Apparatus comprising a packaging tube for packaging of articles adapted to be used with a hauling-in system, the tube having folds in two directions crossing each other and at substantially a right angle with respect to the tube in such a manner that they alternately cross on the inside in two directions at every stage to form folded-in pleats, and the folded-in pleats providing substantially rectangularly shaped openings on the inside of the tube mutually crossing at a substantially right angle at every stage the tube being formed of a material having sufficient flexibility to permit the folded-in pleats to contact one other and to be unfolded for the receipt and packaging of articles.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the tube is folded-in in such a manner that the pleats have a substantially trapezoidal shape.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the external form of the tube is substantially octagonal in shape formed by four outer sides of the folded-in pleats.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the external form of the tube is substantially octagonal in shape formed by four outer sides of the folded-in pleats.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the packaging tube is used in the hauling-in system with a packaging device having a guide cylinder, the packaging tube being made from a material adapted to surround an article and to be closed upon itself by heat and pressure for packaging the article, the tube being neatly folded and compressed to provide an opening for the insertion of the guide cylinder of the packaging device in such a manner that the packaging tube has a periphery longer by more than 30 per cent than that of the guide cylinder.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the packing tube is made from synthetic resinous material adapted to be closed by heat and pressure.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the packaging tube is made from polyethylene. 